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French and Indian War
A war that was fought between Britain and France over the New World territory. This provided Great Britain with enormous territorial gains in North America but the constant disagreements about war debt led to colonial conflict. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation was issued by King George lll which prevented the purchase of the French territory in North America. It stopped them from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, which was the Indian Reserve. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was an act implemented by the British to stop the smuggling trade in molasses and sugar from the French and Dutch West Indies. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred between a "patriot mob", and British soldiers .They threw snowballs, stones, and sticks at one another until the fight became rather dangerous. A total of 3 people were killed and 8 were wounded. -
The Boston Tea Party
Governor Thomas Hutchinson allowed three ships carrying tea to enter Boston Harbor. Before the tax could be collected, Bostonians took action. On a cold December night, radical townspeople stormed the ships and tossed 342 chests of tea into the water. Disguised as Native Americans, the offenders could not be identified. -
"Give me liberty or give me death" by Patrick Henry
In 1774 he represented Virginia in the First Continental Congress where he continued in the role of firebrand. At the outbreak of the revolution, he returned to his native state and lead militia in defense of Virginia's gunpowder store, when the royal Governor spirited it aboard a British ship. "No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House..." -
Lexington and Concord
This was known as "the shot heard around the world." The British General sent out groups of British Soldiers quartered in Boston. These soldiers captured Colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock. The plan was ruined because of spies who leaked their plan. Word got around to each town and everybody was prepared to fight the British. When the British arrived they found 70 minutemen waiting for them. This is when the bullet was fired and the battle began. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On June 16, 1775, a detail of American troops acting under orders from Artemas Ward moved out of their camp, carrying picks, shovels, and guns. They entrenched themselves on a rise located on Charleston Peninsula overlooking Boston. By the time the third wave of British charged the hill, the Americans were running low on ammunition. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued. The British eventually took the hill, but at a great cost. Out of the 2,300 soldiers, 1054 were killed. -
Burning of Norfolk
British Royal Navy ships in the harbor of Norfolk, Virginia began shelling the town and landing parties came ashore to burn specific properties. The town was made up of mostly a loyalist population left. After about three days almost the entire town had been burned down. The destruction was completed by Whig forces in early February to deny use of even the remnants to the British. -
The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada
British forces are forced to evacuate Boston following General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights, which overlooks the city from the south. ... The British fleet had first entered Boston Harbor on October 2, 1768, carrying 1,000 soldiers. -
The First Virginia Constitution
First Virginia Constitution, June 29, 1776. The Virginia Convention that met in Williamsburg from May 6 through July 5, 1776, unanimously adopted a Declaration of Rights on June 12 and about two weeks later, on June 29, unanimously adopted the first constitution of the independent Commonwealth of Virginia. -
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Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. They continued to modify and edit the document until it was exactly how they wanted it. -
The Delegates began to sign the Declaration of Independence
Officially, the Congress declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, when it approved a resolution in a unanimous vote. ... Many members of the Continental Congress started to sign an engrossed version of the Declaration on August 2, 1776, in Philadelphia. After finally voting to become independent they decided to make a document to inform the public of their decision. -
Leaving Valley Forge
Philadelphia was a difficult place for the British to defend. Now that France was in the war, the city was also vulnerable to attack or blockade from the sea. It was decided to abandon the Quaker City and move British forces back to their base in New York City. The British decided to leave on June 18th. About 3,000 Loyalists left the city. -
Signing the Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. After the document was signed America was officially a free nation.They agreed on what boundaries had to be set and finally settled. -
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Annapolis Convention
The Annapolis Convention was a meeting held in 1786 by representatives of several states to discuss economic issues. The report issued from this meeting called for a Constitutional Convention to be held. That reconmendation would be fufilled and a Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in 1787. -
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Philadelphia Convention
The 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia originally met in order to reform the Articles of Confederation under which the United States government at the time operated. Instead the convention decided to scrap the Articles and draw up a new document which would deal with the issues facing the new nation at the time. The result of the convention was the creation of the United States Constitution. -
Compromise of 1790
The Compromise of 1790 was a deal between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton in which Jefferson agreed to back Hamilton's plan for the federal government to assume all the war debt of the individual states while Hamilton agreed to back moving the national capital from New York City to a territory somewhere in the south, which eventually became the city of Washington D.C. -
The opening of the First Bank of the United States
The First Bank of the United States was a national bank created in 1791 as part of an expansion of federal fiscal power that was argued for by the first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton. The idea behind the bank was to stabilize the national credit of the nation. It was bitterly opposed by Thomas Jefferson. The Bank would exist until 1811 when the senate refused to renew it. -
The Signing of the Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The amendments deal with personal freedoms and limitations on government powers. The Bill of Rights originally only applied to the Federal government but the Fourteenth Amendment allowed for them to be applied to the individual states as well.
